Following are excerpts from the official policy pertaining to faculty and staff.

Rhodes College is committed to providing a working, educational, social, and residential environment for all members of our College community, including all faculty, staff, and students, that is free from sexual harassment. Sexual harassment in any form is unacceptable behavior and will not be tolerated. It is a form of misconduct that undermines the institutional mission of the College. Sexual harassment may be defined as unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, physical conduct, written, verbal or electronic communication or printed materials of a sexual nature when:

Submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual’s employment or educational experience;

Submission to or rejection of such conduct is used as the basis for employment or academic decisions affecting such individual; and/or

Such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work, academic performance, participation in co-curricular activities, or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working, learning, social, or residential environment.

Sexual harassment can take many forms, and the determination of what constitutes sexual harassment will vary according to the particular circumstances. Sexual harassment may be described generally as unwelcome sexual behavior that a reasonable person would find offensive and that adversely affects the working, learning, or campus-living environment. Such conduct can have the effect of unreasonably interfering with academic performance and create an intimidating, hostile, or offensive learning environment, thereby infringing upon the rights of third parties and the rights of the student to whom it is directed.

It is the responsibility of managers, supervisors, department chairpersons, directors and President′s Staff to ensure that employees and contract employees under their direction or supervision are informed of this policy. In order to promote and uphold the College’s commitment to a harassment-free environment, it is the responsibility of all members of the College community to report alleged violations of this policy to the appropriate College official. Allegations involving a faculty or staff member should be reported either to the Dean of the Faculty or the Director of Human Resources. Allegations against a student should be reported to the Dean of Students. Investigations will be conducted as promptly and in as confidential a manner as possible. Anyone who retaliates against any individual making complaints of sexual harassment, or anyone making a false or malicious charge against a member of the community is in violation of this policy and will be subject to sanctions accordingly. Violations of this policy involving college employees will be dealt with according to Rhodes policies regarding “Dismissal for Cause” and “Employee Discipline.” Allegations against students will be dealt with by the procedure outlined below.

Sexual Assault

Sexual assault includes but may not be limited to rape, forcible sodomy or sexual penetration with an inanimate object, the intentional touching of unwilling person’s intimate parts (defined as genitalia, groin, breast or buttocks, or clothing covering them), or forcing an unwilling person to touch another’s intimate parts. To constitute an assault, the above acts must be committed without the consent of the victim, by threat or intimidation, or through the use of the victim’s mental or physical helplessness of which the accused was aware or should have been aware. Sexual assault will not be tolerated in the Rhodes community. It may be punishable by both civil and criminal legal action and constitutes a serious violation of the Standards of the Rhodes Community and the Sexual Harassment and Assault Policy.

Geographic Jurisdiction

To fall within the jurisdiction of these procedures, the act of sexual harassment or assault must have been committed against a Rhodes student by a Rhodes student or employee (a) on College-owned or leased property or (b) at a College-related function. Because students may also be sanctioned for conduct which constitutes a hazard to the health, safety, or well being of members of the College community or which is detrimental to the College’s interest whether such conduct occurs on campus, off campus or at College-sponsored events, the College reserves the right to pursue disciplinary action of off-campus incidents on a case by case basis.